A Long Long Adventure...

Well, I bet you've all been wondering, "Where is Flat Stanley?" I can tell you, he has been a busy little guy! It all began when Stanley left Liam, Connor, and Caitlin's house and headed off to Florida to visit Laurie and Julia. The mailman delivered him safely to their mail box, but Stanley just sat there for days and days. "Where are my friends?" he wondered. Then, just when he thought he couldn't take the heat anymore, along came their Mommy. They had moved! She was just coming to pick up the mail from their old house to take along to their new house. Whew! That was a close one! Stanley was almost lost! As much as Julia and Laurie wanted to play with Stanley, they had a lot of work to do, unpacking their clothes and toys and furniture at their new house, so they had to send Stanley on his way to visit Michael and Katelyn again.
So, back at Michael's house, Stanley arrived on a very exciting day. The first day of school! Michael was about to walk to school with Mommy and Katelyn, but we decided to check the mail first. What did we find? Mail for Michael!!  What could it be?

Michael was very excited to see his friend again!

Time to walk to school!

Michael was also very excited to meet new friends at school while we waited for the bells to ring. Can you find Flat Stanley in this picture?

After 2 days of school, there was some more excitement around here. Michael's Grandad came for a visit from Washington! That's a long trip from Washington to Virginia! Even longer than Stanley's flight from Florida to Virginia. We all went to the National Zoo that weekend, and Stanley was excited to take his first trip to a zoo.  Stanley had a great advantage when we visited the aquariums...he could get very very very close to the glass.

Stanley loved seeing the sting rays glide by!

But Michael was afraid he might get stung, so he rescued him. Stanley was safe behind the glass, but Michael wasn't taking any chances with his buddy.

Turtles!

This cute little guy was not so little compared to Flat Stanley!

Stanley's favorite part of the zoo was watching the orangutans swing high above us, traveling from one play area to another. They were 40 feet in the air, swinging right above the sidewalks, and they never fall down! Stanley really wanted to try it out, but swinging around like that is hard when you're flat. A strong wind would blow him away! We just settled on taking a video to watch at home.

The Greatest of Ease... from Leslie Reedy on Vimeo.
After the weekend with Grandad, we had another fun weekend planned with Liam, Connor, and Caitlin, because they live really close to our house. We all went camping together! Stanley had fun playing in the tent, but he couldn't keep up with the boys as they eagerly explored the forest.

On the way home, we visited the Birthplace of George Washington. Sadly, George Washington's boyhood home burned down, but no one was hurt, thank goodness! The park rangers have made an outline of where the house once stood, and Michael ran around the perimeter as fast as he could go.

Here they are learning about the Outdoor Kitchen that was typical to the time when George Washington was a little boy. They didn't have electricity, and they cooked over an open fire in the fireplace.

There was a workbook to fill in so you could get a Junior Ranger badge, and Stanley helped Michael write down all the interesting facts they had learned that day about George Washington's life.

We also learned that the National Park service has a Website just for Junior Rangers. It's really cool, and you can learn all about our National Parks and our Nation's History while playing games. We like to log on and play on rainy days, like today!

Once we arrived back home, Flat Stanley and Michael decided to play a game of hide and seek. You know, you have to be careful when you play hide and seek, because if you hide really really really well, it might be hard to find you again! Flat Stanley took advantage of his shape and hid under the floor mat in the van. We thought we lost him for a while, but we finally found him again! Flat Stanley has been through quite a lot in these last few weeks!

On to Stanley's questions. He had some fun questions for Michael this time.
*Stanley - What do you like best about school?
*Michael - "Playing outside with Luke!"
*What is your favorite thing to eat on pizza?
*Michael - "CHEESE!"
*What is your favorite animal to visit at the zoo?
*Michael - "Uhhhh, alligators!"
*What do you like to do in the summer?
*Michael - "Uh, play with Daddy outside on the patio and throw meatballs on the kitty and on my face and throw apples on me and throw cheese on me and eat apples, bananas, pie, frosting, chocolate, and ice cream, and cake, and pizza, and a bunch of pears, and lemons, and lemons, and lemons, and watermelons, and grapefruit!"
And now, he's off again to visit Evan and Chloe. He'll be seeing you guys soon!